August Review

Our school year started the last day of July so August was our month to get back to school. Of course it was still summer! So we had to fit in all the normal summer stuff too like the pool, the State Fair, and visits from friends.

Here we have our 8th, 6th, and 2nd graders:

August is the busiest month for high school golf. This is Rachel's last year to play before she heads off to college. I'm going to miss this sport! I've promised myself that within ten years I'm going to find a way to learn to play. Andrew is playing soccer again for Covenant this year (no picture yet).

I think this might have been our fifth year at the  Zionsville Plein Air Paint Out! YAY!

Grandma was there too and we all had a wonderful day! The boys even won prizes!

The State Fair is something we all look forward to! This year we had friends come visit from out of state so they could join us at the fair. We made sure to go two days.

 Yay for cooler weather at the fair! It makes all the difference!

The kids all tried their hands at fishing at the fair and each caught a fish!

I think they might like to do this more often....

 The Pioneer Village is always a favorite place and my mouth was watering walking by the dining room just as the ladies served up a full farm lunch.

 Our whole visit to the fair is one long string of tradition after tradition. Candy sticks are a must.

I love this quilt pattern. I used to have antique quilts like this when I was a child.

We all loved the cows. America has far fewer cows now than we had 60 years ago, but the cows we have produce FAR greater amounts of milk. It's interesting to hear all the statistics and think how agriculture has changed.

Laura is the only child young enough for "Little Hands on the Farm."

Here are the animals that built the west. Impressive beasts!

Our state fair has a new "ride"! Our friends treated us all to a turn on it and we loved it! The best way to see the fair!

The bunny and chicken barn is so fun.

Especially the amazing-haired chickens. I think I'd like this for a costume party.

 The canned food displays are always fun but this year there was no question which was my favorite!!!

Once we'd exhausted the fair it was time to introduce my friends to Goodwill Outlet! They loved it just as much as we do!

And then we spent a few mornings at Eagle Creek and eventually discovered some monarch caterpillars!

Cousin Olivia is growing all the time! She's so sweet!

James and I had the chance to receive an oil painting lesson from a friend. We both thoroughly enjoyed it!

I spent many hours in August prepping for my art classes which I've started up this fall. Lots and lots of nature journaling kits were made and ideas put down on paper.

And of course we had our Great American Eclipse experience.

And then it was time to settle back into a regular routine of school and get used to the fact that summer is drawing to an end.

Meanwhile, we are enjoying hatching monarch butterflies.

With the first of September the weather has taken a decided turn for fall. And now the weekend is ahead, and we are all waiting news of the hurricane and praying for those in its path.

The Indiana State Fair

 This year I got my fill of State Fair fun! Between family and friend trips I made it there four times! (plus two more times to pick up and drop things off!)

The last time I went we had to wait for 20 minutes in the car while a random thunder shower passed over. The after effects made for beautiful photos! Speaking of weather, we've had about 6 tornadoes in our small suburban town this week! The weather has been crazy! Very thankful that no one I know personally has been affected.

Michael and I decided to have a date night to the fair. We caught the last bit of horse racing.

And we enjoyed some fair food which was a rare treat. Yum yum!

Going to see "world's largest pig" is always fun, except that I feel badly for the poor thing -- especially when the weather is so very hot.

The sheep barn is the next best thing to driving the Scottish countryside, right? Plenty of sheep to photograph and exclaim over.

For dinner I chose chicken on a stick and fried pickles. The pickles were better than I expected and had a sweet note to them.

I love the Lego farm scene and I wouldn't mind having it in my house (well, maybe in smaller versions). Farms have always held a very special place in my heart.

There was a new Lego exhibit celebrating Indiana's Bicentennial. Loved the covered bridge.

Another Bicentennial idea was painted Bisons (Bison-tennial, right? but of course the bison features on the state seal). The county groups that entered were so creative!

I loved all the country scenes that captured what Indiana is like.

The painting was quite good on so many of these!

The Pioneer Village is one of our favorite parts of the fair and it's a must-stop at the penny candy store where you can still buy candy for a penny! (limit of 20)

The vintage kitchen always draws me in.

The younger kids and I went to the fair for a school field trip. We had rain on this visit too. But we had fun and had a few laughs at the Pirate Show.

I love the horse barns because they remind me of Windy Foot at the County Fair, one of my favorite childhood books, which we just had to start re-reading after our fair trip.

The pig barn always has two mother pigs who have recently given birth and it is so entertaining to watch the adorable baby pigs and how much trouble they cause!

 The horses in the horse barn are beautiful! We didn't get to see any horse shows but we did walk around and admire the horses in their stalls.

We loved this sheep with his crazy hair!!!! Reminds me of a certain relation of mine.

The sheep have to look perfect for the shows! So different than when they are in the fields.

I loved seeing all the zinnia entries in the agriculture building. Every year at fair entry time I am way too stressed to think about trying to enter anything and then when the fair rolls around a few weeks later and school is underway with a regular routine I always think, "I could enter some things! Maybe next year." Someday I will.

There was a record-setting giant pumpkin at the fair this year. Can you imagine driving by a field and seeing these things growing??!

Another tradition of mine is stopping by the rug hooking table and thinking that maybe I will one day take up rug hooking. I loved this flower version with the flowers coming right up out of the rug.

The church ladies met one evening at the fair and that gave me a chance to get into the arts and crafts building and see quilts, and knitting, crochet, and other needle arts. So much fun!! These items were all made with wool from Indiana!

The rain produced a rainbow at the fair!

 A friend recommended the smoked pulled pork and I was so glad I took her up on that idea! It was amazingly delicious!

We stopped into the historic drugstore on the fairgrounds.

The pulled pork friend also introduced me to this candy -- anything maple is an easy win with me.

The ladies raved about these smoothies from the giant strawberry stand.

We ended the ladies' night with a trip to the bunny barn. How can one resist these cute animals?!!

This bunny had eye makeup on like a teenager.

Don't you want to cuddle one of these?!

This bunny seemed to be a true velveteen.

No wonder Beatrix Potter drew bunnies!

The ears on this variety were quite amazing!

I think all the women wanted to take a bunny home.

And so that ends our fair adventures for this year! It's fun how things you do year after year become family traditions.

It's another wet day here and the forecast says more crazy weather for the next five days or so! Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

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